WASHINGTON — In an angry farewell address Wednesday night, outgoing President Biden warned against what he called the “high-tech industrial complex” and claimed that “an oligarchy is forming in America.” He explicitly criticized Elon Musk and other big businessmen for being ahead of the curve. President-elect Donald Trump will be tried in court.
Mr. Biden, 82, is a member of the same tech tycoons who are seen as helping Democrats defeat Mr. Trump in 2020 through censorship of unfavorable reporting, including Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos. He shot at some of the people.
“In my farewell address tonight, I would like to warn this country about some things that concern me deeply, and that are the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very wealthy few. Their abuse of power, if allowed to go unchecked, will have dangerous consequences,” Biden said.
“Today, an oligarchy is forming in America, with extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our fundamental rights and freedoms, and a fair chance for everyone to advance.”
Biden did not name names, but made clear the targets of his anger through sharp comments elsewhere in his remarks.
“President Eisenhower spoke about the dangers of the military-industrial complex in his farewell address, when he warned us of the 'disastrous possibility of the rise of misguided power,'” Biden said. .
“Sixty years later, we are equally concerned about the potential rise of a high-tech industrial complex that could pose a real danger to our country,” the president continued.
“The American people are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling abuses of power. Freedom of the press is collapsing. Editors are disappearing. Social media needs fact-checking. The truth is obscured by lies told by power and profit. We hold social platforms accountable to protect children, families, and democracy itself from abuses of power. I have to.”
The line “abandoning fact-checking” is a clear reference to Mr. Zuckerberg, who recently announced that his groundbreaking social network will be freed from third-party fact-checking with an X-shaped “community notes” system. announced that it is moving to . Mr. Trump.
Biden slammed “misinformation,” even though he regularly tells false or unverifiable stories about himself. That includes a local Los Angeles utility company twice last week providing what it said were false statements about dry hydrants to avoid criticism from local Democratic officials. .
Meta's recently abandoned system allows young writers from partner organizations to publish controversial “fact checks,” allowing them to make political decisions on Facebook and Instagram based on controversial analysis. They downgraded speech and, in some cases, censored true information that reflected poorly on Biden, including criticism of his contributions to mass incarceration. It saved black men through tough crime laws in the 1980s and ’90s.
The new system will allow for community voting on fact checks added to controversial posts. This is a mechanism pioneered by Musk's X Platform (formerly known as Twitter).
The South African-born billionaire was banned by Twitter and Facebook ahead of the 2020 election for reporting on the Post's precise information from the laptop of his eldest son Hunter Biden, whose father was allegedly involved in business in China and Ukraine. It acquired X in October 2022 in protest of its past censorship actions. relationship.
Zuckerberg, the world's third-richest man, recently met with Trump and is actively courting him ahead of Monday's inauguration, while Bezos, the second-richest man, spoke to Biden in a Washington Post editorial. strongly agreed with the editorial supporting a carefully selected successor.
Meanwhile, Musk, the world's richest man, has been an active supporter of the Trump campaign and owns a number of tech companies, including electric car maker Tesla and aerospace contractor SpaceX.
Biden, who leaves office as one of the most unpopular presidents in modern history, says the US will enact tax policies aimed at making the wealthy “start paying their fair share” and take new policies against “dark finance.” said it should. behind too many campaign contributions” — even though much of it benefited his own party.
The 46th president also warned about artificial intelligence, saying, “Nothing poses more profound possibilities and risks to our economy, our security, our society, and in many cases, to humanity.”
“Artificial intelligence even has the potential to help answer my call to end cancer as we know it,” Biden said in one of his unfulfilled policy promises. mentioned.
“Unless safeguards are put in place, however, AI could create new threats to our rights, the way we live, our privacy, the way we work, and the way we protect our nation. , we must ensure that it is beneficial to all humanity.”
Mr. Biden began his speech by touting the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas announced earlier in the day, but did not reassess Mr. Trump, whose pressure on both countries is widely seen as facilitating a breakthrough. There wasn't.
And with clear vitriol toward his successor, Biden said, “We need to amend the Constitution to make it clear that no president is immune from crimes committed while in office.”
Despite his bad tone, the president tried to portray himself as generous ahead of leaving office on Monday.
“I wish the next administration success, because I want America to succeed,” he said.
